With all the horror movies I saw in November, you could call the month October 2: Electric Boogaloo.
The Wild Robot
My loyal followers, I, the Video Game Doomsayer, stand before you, atop my soapbox, to proclaim The Wild Robot is much smarter than people gave it credit for. Themes of adoptive parental figures, community, a sense of purpose and hard work to overcome adversity are woven deeply into this simple story of a robot raising a young gosling. I chuckled at the steady stream of jokes that never undermined the film’s thought-provoking themes. Sorrowful streams ran down my face as characters defied the odds. All in all, The Wild Robot reminded me of the type of stories Disney used to tell in the 90s and early 2000s. Quite frankly, if Disney is too busy hoping you will go to a film for pure nostalgia, then we should look to studios like DreamWorks to pick up the slack.
Terrifier 3
Lend me your ears, my loyal followers, as I ask you to take heed against this blasphemous doomsayer. For I possess an unpopular horror opinion: horror movies taking place at Christmas just feel juvenile, because the juxtaposition of blood and gore against the joyful nature of the Christmas spirit feels childish. Like a toddler acting out for attention. What about The Nightmare Before Christmas, I hear you cry. An exception, I quickly retort. First, The Nightmare Before Christmas is not a traditional horror movie, but merely a film draped in the quirky gothic aesthetic that Tim Burton is famous for. Second, the film is using the holidays to showcase how one should be comfortable in your own skin and not strive to be something you’re not. It is not trying to paint snowman in blood. Why do I bring this all up, you ask? I state all of this as a prerequisite to this next statement: I felt Terrifier 3 was trying too hard.
Heed your volley of rotten fruit, for I am not someone who casts a blanket of ire against the Terrifier series. For, I am a huge fan of Terrifier 2; I found the cartoonish antics of Art the clown, the perfect blend of creepy yet comical that really shook up the slasher genre. However, setting the third installment at the Christmas season, just makes Terrifier 3 feel desperate. Some, may cry out that Terrifier 2 was set at Halloween, so why can’t the third be at Christmas, and I would retort that Halloween is a common and fitting holiday to have a slasher films take place. To add insult to injury, some of Art’s kills are really lacking in imagination: one kill involves him just shooting someone and another is just a setting off a bomb at the mall. I just expect a little more from this demonic clown.
So, is it over for Art the clown? By no means am I proclaiming the end is nigh for this series. The infamous shower scene in Terrifier 3 shows me Art has plenty of gas left in the tank. I just believe tying themselves to holidays is not helping the series. I urge them to go back to the drawing board and focus on the gruesome kills and affects that has help Art gain his stardom. Please, I shout atop my soap box to you, Damien Leone, do not make Terrifier 4 an Easter movie.
Heretic
Some Doomsayer lore for you, my loyal followers, I grew up in a fairly religious home. As I grew older, I naturally began to ask questions that religious figureheads did not enjoy. Mainly, what are the social ramifications if you don’t share the exact same beliefs as everyone else? Are differing opinions welcomed? Does the church prefer docile followers rather than ones who question everything? I got the answer to that question very quickly. Naturally, I consider myself someone who has rejected religion, and I am drawn, like a moth to the flame, to stories that also turn their backs on religion. I am sure there is no doubt among you why I went to see A24’s film, Heretic, with this knowledge.
The film revolves around two nuns, Sister Barnes and Sister Paxton, who are trying to recruit people into their religion. They stumble on an older gentleman who invites them into his home. They learn his name is Mr. Reed, and he has a fascination with religion. He goes into a long monologue on how religions are often like the board game Monopoly: there have been multiple iterations, each one with small changes, but ultimately the same game. I must confess this analogy had me completely sold on the movie, and I sat, eye glued to the screen as Mr. Reed invites the two sisters down into the basement.
As someone who enjoys movies with themes of questioning religion and strong dialogue, I can firmly recommend Heretic to you. However, as a horror fan, I must confess, I didn’t get everything I wanted out of the film. The maze-like nature of Mr. Reed’s house was over played in the trailers, and the horror Mr. Reed has to reveal at the end didn’t feel as haunting compared to other psychological films. I dare not say Heretic is a bad film; I just think you should know what you are getting into before you commit two hours to this film. If you long for though-provoking conversations of religion, then Heretic has you covered.
Smile 2
Not content to smear one horror franchise, I stand atop my soapbox to pronounce the Smile series has false idols. What fury could I contain towards these movies? I believe the Smile series has a dangerous underlying message about mental health. In the previous film, it was established the Smile spirit latches onto someone who has experienced trauma, torments them into killing themselves in front of someone else and jumping onto that next victim. Even our heroine, Rose, is unable to break the cycle and ends up killing herself in front of Joel, continuing the cycle. The message, that the film is all but happy to make, is all forms of trauma make you a broken individual, unable to escape the burden that it holds onto you, and you are better off going into the woods to make sure you die alone. Some of you may cry out, that I am digging too deeply into the themes of the movie, but the Smile movies are all too willing to bring up these themes to appear deep and realistic. What is the saying, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t have your character say that the Smile demon is attracted to your trauma and not have it mean anything. What truly makes me groan is the fact discussions on mental health are already demonized, and films like this only exaggerate the problem further.
Some of you might be wondering, well these are comments on the first Smile film; maybe the writers took on this criticism and worked to address this. My loyal followers, I wish this was true, but alas, it is not. Smile 2 has a similar plot structure to the first film. This time, the film revolves around Skye Riley, a pop star who was in a tragic car accident that lead to the death of her boyfriend. Naturally, she witnesses someone with the Smile demon die and has it latch onto her. What adds insult to injury, is the fact that both Smile films do a great job at building suspense. So often lesser horror films will build up the eerie atmosphere all for it to vanish the second after the jump scare. Smile has much more patience, willing to let a scene hang, creating more tension. Smile 2 also brilliantly plays on the anxieties of fame, involving a scene where a fan expresses some stalker-like behaviors. All of this is to say, I want to like Smile 2. It does a lot of things that I wish more horror movies would do. However, I can’t help but imagine someone struggling with mental health, taking away some dangerous ideas from these films.
Smile series, please do better.
A Real Pain
November seemed plagued with movies I wanted to like but just couldn’t. My loyal followers, I present A Real Pain, a buddy comedy written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg. The film starts two Jewish cousins, the charismatic Benji and the awkward David, as they tour Poland to honor their recently deceased grandmother. As in all buddy comedies, the two different lifestyles and personalities butt heads in a way that had me smirking in the theater. From David being uncomfortable with Benji convincing the tour group to do a goofy photo, to the two of them missing their stop on the train because Benji didn’t wake David, you will be reminded of the buddy comedies that ruled the roost in the 90s such as Rush Hour and Dumb and Dumber.
Now, some of you might cry out, Doomsayer, this sounds like a great movie, why did you end up not liking it. To that question, I must reply that I cared not for the ending the film had. In the tradition of buddy comedy films, the clash of personality cause the two leads to explode at each other. Hurling insults about each other’s faults and failures. David claims Benji is going nowhere, despite having all the potential in the world. Benji cries out that David is so successful that there is no reason for him to be a shy as he is. With our two protagonist demoralized, you think they would come together and learn to be better, but they don’t. At the end, Benji decides to stay at the New York airport and chat with strangers, rather than try to put his life back together and David retreats back to his family. Some might say that it is a very Jewish ending for them to be unable to move beyond their past. Others might say without their grandmother, who was a strong-willed woman, they simply can’t find the drive to move forward. Either way, I am left standing atop my soapbox with narrative blue-balls. You cannot simply build up these characters and not follow through on the arc they were seeing through. The only word I can use to describe this is unsatisfying.
It’s What’s Inside
My loyal followers, I feel this one might have flown under the radar. It’s What’s Inside is a movie on Netflix about a group of friends, gathering together to celebrate before a wedding. One of the estranged friends arrives with a device that allows all of them to swap bodies with each other. They soon begin a social deduction game to determine who is who after swapping bodies. However, part way through, an accidental murder takes place, causing chaos to ensue. Some might think I am spoiling the plot by mentioning the murder, but that’s only the tip of this iceberg when it comes to the twists and turns of this film. Of course, I must point out the magnificent writing and acting on display in this film. With all the body swapping going on, it would be easy to lose track of who is who, but each character is well-defined to the point you start being able to identify who is who before the characters do. In an age where Netflix has relegated itself to second screen territory, it is nice to know there are writers, actors and directors willing to create pieces of art that refuse to be background noise.